Typewriting machine



Dec. 8,

4 A. E. ZUGELTER TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 6, 1923 ly, so that noink-impression is made.

1 sion legible.

30 on the ends of the ribbon-shafts.

Patented Dec. 8, 1925.

UNITED STATES ALVIN n. ZUGELTER, or CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNORTOUNDERWOQD TYPEWRITER PATENT OFFICE.)

COMPANY, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A coaP'oRA'rIoN or DELAWARE.

TYrnwnrrINe MACHINE.

Application filed February 6, 1923. Serial No. 617,253.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, ALVIN E. ZUGELTER,acitizen of the United States, residing in Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a.specification. I

This invention relates to typewriter card guiding and feeding devices,and more particularly to stencil-card guides.

The types usually strike the stencil directis desirable, however, torender the impres I To this end, a ribbon is usually fed between theplaten and the stencil.

The impressions are thus inked on the back, i and the writing is madev1sible.

One of the features of the present invention is the provision ofefficient ribbon-feeding means. A pair of ribbon-carrying shafts aremounted above the platen, and the ribbon runs from one of them aroundthe platen to the other. The shafts wind alternatively. A commondrive-shaft for the ribbon-shafts is loosely mounted at one end foraxial tilting movement, and carries a pinion at its free end to be movedalternatively into driving engagement with gears The com mon drive-shaftis driven by pawl-andratchet mechanism, at its relatively stationaryend, actuated by the line-spacing mechanism of the Underwood typewriter.

Stationary guides receive the opposite margins of the cards, andserrated feeders on the platen co-operate with s-errated'feedrolls togrip the margins of the cards and feed them. as set forth in theapplication of Alfred G. F. Kurowski, Serial No. 595,235,

filed October 18, 1922. Means are also provided on the platen for gagingthe lower edge of a card as it is inserted, to position it relatively tothe platen, so that it will be brought to correct writing position whenfully inserted. In accordance with the present invention, such meansconsist of gaging stops for engaging the card at the opposite ends ofits lower edge only,-said stops being located beyond the Writing zone,so that the writing zone is left freeand unobstructed to permit thepassage of the ribbon around the platen.

A feature of the invention is the provision, in combination with awork-feeding platen,

of a ribbon passing around the platen, ribhon-feeding mechanism, andmeans located beyond the'edges of the ribbon for engaging the'margins ofthe cards and pressing.

the improvements of the'present invention. a

'Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view, showing the relative arrangementof the ribbon-stencil-card and the card feeding and positioning means'Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 38 of Figure 1,with the I end bracket partly broken away.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line k4 of Figure 1on a reducedscale.

tion on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional View taken transversely of the platenin the Writing zone. I Figure 7 is a reduced fragmentary plan view,showing the mechanism for driving the ribbon-shafts.

The invention is shown as applied to an Underwood typewriting machinehaving a rotary platen 10, mounted in the platenframe 11 of r atraveling carriage (not shown). by a pin 12, mounted on the end plate 13of the platen-frame 11, playing in a slot 14, in the right end of theplaten. A strip of celluloid 15 maybe fixed over the portion of theplaten whichrreceives the type-impressions. The platen may be turned bythe usual knobs or finger-pieces 16 (one of I which is shown), or byoperation of the usual line-spacing mechanism, which comprises aline-space lever (not shown), a

slide 17, a pawl 18, a'ratchet 19 fast upon the platen-shaft 20, and aspring 21 for returning the slide 17.

A pair of transverse rods 22 and 23,

mounted on the end plates 13 and 24 of the. platen-frame 11, have twoupwardly-extend- I ing spaced brackets 25 and 26 fixed upon them. Shafts27 and 28, adapted to have the opposite ends of a ribbon'29 attached tothem, are journaled in the brackets 25 and Figure 5 is a verticallongitudinal sec- Rotation of the platen is limited 90 26. These shafts27 and 28 are provided with driving gears 30 and 31, respectively,adjacent the left-hand bracket 25, and coilsprings 32 on the shafts 27and 28, between the bracket and gears and 31, frictionally engage thegears 30 and 31, and prevent too free rotation of their respectiveshafts, and thereby prevent overfeeding of the ribbon 29. The shafts 27and 28 have collars 33 adjustably fixed upon them for determining theirlongitudinal positions by engagement with the right-hand bracket 26.

The gears 30 and 31 are arranged to be alternatively driven from theline-spacing mechanism in the following manner: A common driving shaft34, having fast thereon a driving pinion 35, located between the gears30 and 31, extends betweenthe bracket 25 and an upwardly-extendingbracket-plate 36 011 the end 24 of the platen-frame 11. The slide 17 ofthe line-spacing mechanism is connected through a link 37 to an arm 38,rotatably mounted on the shaft 34 adjacent the bracket 36. The arm 38carries a pawl 1 39 which is maintained by a spring 40 in engagementwith a ratchet 41 fast on the shaft 34, the arrangement being such thatthe shaft 34 is rocked each time that the slide 17 is moved rearwardlyby the line space lever. A return locking pawl 42, mounted on anadjustable pivot 43 on the bracket 36, is pressed by a spring 44 intoengagement with the ratchet 41 to prevent retrograde movement of theshaft 34, to prevent unwinding of the ribbon. A boss 45 on the ratchetand a collar 46 are fixed on the shaft 34 at opposite sides of thebracket-plate 36 at a sufficient distance from each other to permitlimited angular movement of the axis of the shaft 34 about the bearingof the shaft in the bracket 36 as a fulcrum. The bearing fits the shaft34 loosely enough to permit this tilting. At its opposite end the shaft34 has the pinion 35 fast upon it and located between the gears'30 and31 on the ribbon-shafts 27 and 28. At this end the shaft 34 is supportedin the bracket 25 in a horizontal slot 47 of sufficient length to permitthe shaft 34 to be moved to carry the pinion 35 into mesh with eithergear 30 or gear 31 to effect a driving connection with eitherribbon-shaft, and thereby to cause the ribbon to be wound onto the shaftthus connected. A detentplate 48, pivoted on the bracket 25 and havingtwo arcuate recesses 49 in its upper face beside the forward and rearportions, respectively, of the slot 47', is pressed by arather stiffspring 50 into engagement with the shaft 34 to cause the shaft to beretained at either end of the slot 47 to which it may be moved, andthereby to prevent unin tended disengagement offthe P51101135 fromeither gear. It will be "seen that, by the mechanism described, theribbon 29 may ha wound onto either of the ribbon-shafts 27 and 28, andthat the direction of the ribbonfeed may be quickly reversed by simplythrusting the shaft 34 from one end of the slot 47 to the other. Themovement of the shaft 34 at its left end is insufficient to af feet theoperative relationship of the ratchet 41 with the pawls 39 and 42,because of their proximity to the fulcrum about which the shaft istilted. The ribbon 29 is caused to pass around the platen 10, and is ofsufficient width to occupy the entire writing zone.

Between the brackets 25 and 26 the rods 22 and 23 carry a pair of spacedforwardlyextending brackets 51. Each of the brackets 51 carries at itsforward end a stationary guide comprising resilient front plates '52 andrear plates 53 for receiving a margin of a stencilcard and guiding itdownwardly to initial printing position, and for guiding it upwardly inline-spacing direction. The guides for the opposite margins takentogether form a guide-chute. The platen 10 is provided with serratedrings 54 spaced apart to grip the margins of the cards only, andspring-pressed, serrated rollers 55 are provided, one for each ring, tohold the margins of the cards with a gripping pressure'aga'inst theserrated rings 54. The rollers 55 are rotatably mounted on the forwardends of arms 56. Each of the arms 56 is pivoted in aU-shaped portion atthe forward end of one of the brackets 51, upon a headed screw 57, whichpasses through a leg 58 of the U-shaped portion of the bracket-and intothe body-portion thereof, the roll-carrying arms 56 having extensions ortails 59 behind their pivot-points. The tail 59 of each arm 56 hassecured thereto the lower end of a coilspring 60, the upper end of whichcoil-spring is connected to a lug 61 on the corresponding bracket 51.The springs 60, by drawing upwardly on the tails 59 of the arms 56,cause the rollers 55 to be pressed yieldingly toward the platen 10 forco-operation with the serrated rings 54 in feeding the stencil-cards.For releasing and applying the rollers 55, a rock-shaft 62, journaled inthe brackets 51 and provided with an operating finger-piece 63, carriestwo cams 64, each formed and positioned to engage and depress the tall59 of one of the roll-carrying arms 56 when the shaft 62 is rocked inone direction, and to permit itto rise under the influence of its spring60 when the shaft 62 is rocked in the reverse direction. Rockingmovement of the shaft 62 is limited by engagement of a stud 65'on one ofthe brackets with ears 66 on the corresponding cam.

When it isdesired to insert a card 67 for typing, the platen 10 will 'beturned .to the advanced limit of its movement, that is, to the positionshown in Figures 3 and 5, if it does not already occupy that position,and the feebl -rollers 55 will. be cast. eff by the operation of thefinger-piece 63. The card 67 may then be inserted with its margins inthe chute, formed by the guide-plates 52 and 53, until its bottom edgeengages lips 68 upon a pair of gaging stops 69 attached to the platen atOpposite sides of the Writing zone by suitable means, such asscrews 70.These stops 69 insure the proper positioning and aligning of the card 67with reference to the platen 10. At this point the feed-rollers will berestored to effective position to press the card against the serratedrings 54:. The platen 10 is then rotated until arrested, by the pin 12and slot 14, to lower the card into the chute. The card will thus bepositioned correctly to receive the first line of writing. By arrangingthe stops 69 to lie outside the writing zone, the ribbon 29 is enabledto pass around the platen Without engaging the stops, and the stops areenabled to function without interference by the ribbon.

The stencil-cards are advanced for writing by the line-space lever whichmoves the slide 17 rearwardly at each operation. The slide 17 throughthe ratchet 41 advances-the shaft 34, which, in turn, drives one of theribbonshafts to bring a fresh portion of the ribbon to writing position.

Variations may be-resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a stencil-cutting machine, a platen having a limited range ofmovement, cardfeeding means co-operating with the platen to grip astencil-card along its margins and feed it, a ribbon passing around theplaten behind the stencil-card to mark impressions on the stencilmaterial, and means on the 7 ends of the platen, located outside thezone of the platen traversed by the ribbon, for engaging the lower edgeof the card to align and locate it with reference to the platen.

2. In a stencil-cutting machine, a platen having a limited range ofmovement, means for feeding a ribbon around the platen in the writingzone between the platen and the work, gaging means on the platen,outside the writing zone, for locating a card with reference to theplaten by engagement with the lower edge thereof, releasablefeed-rollers outside the writing zone, co-operating with the platen atthe line of writing and arranged to be made effective to cause theplatento lower the card to writing position after it has been located withreference to the platen by the gaging means, and a stationary chute forguiding the card down to writ ing position with its lower edgesubstantially separated from the platen.

3. In a stencil-cutting machine, a platen having a limited range ofmovement, means co-operating with the platen to cause a stenoil-card tobe advanced by engagement with the platen as the platen is rotated, aribbon passing about the platen in the writing zone, and gaging meanscarried by the platen be yond the edges of the ribbon and movable intoposition with the platen at the advance limit of its movement to engagethe lower edge of the stencil-card outside the writing zone and locateit relatively to the platen, so that it will be correctly positioned'toreceive the first written line when the platen has been moved to theretracted limit of its movement.

4. In a typewriting machine, a platen, line-spacing mechanism foradvancing the platen, and means for feeding a ribbon back and fortharound the platen, comprising a pair of ribbon-shafts, a driving shaft,a bearing for said driving shaft about-which the driving shaft isaxially 'tiltable, a member on said driving shaft adjacent thefulcrum-bearing for driving it, connections between said member and theline-spacing mechanism for operating the member, a slot supporting thedriving shaft at its opposite end, along which the shaft may be moved inopposite directions to effectdriving connections with the respectiveribbon-shafts, and means for retaining the driving shaft at either endof the slot.

5. In a stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen, a ribbonextending about said platen for inking the back of stencil material, apairof gages on said platen, one on each side of said ribbon forengaging the lower edge of a stencil-card and aligning it, and means forguiding said stencil-card down and up in front of said platen inaccordance with the forward and rearward movement of said platen.

6. In a stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen having apair of spaced rings, a pair of rollers, one for each ring for pressinga stencil-card against said rings to feed said cardwith said platen, aribbon extending about said platen between said rings for inking theback of stencil material, a pair of gages on said platen, one on eachside ofsaid ribbon for engaging the lower edge of said stencil-card andaligning it, and means for guiding said stencil-card down and up infront'of said platen in accordance with the rearward and forwardmovement of said platen. i

7 In a stencil-cutting machine, the conr bination of a platen having apair of spaced rings, a pair of'r-ollers one for each ring for pressinga stencil-card against'said rings to feed said card with said platen, aribbon extending about said platen between said rings for inking theback of stencil material, a gage oneach of said rings for engaging thelower edge of'said stencil-card and aligning it, and'means for guidingsaid stencil-card down and'up 111 front of said platen in accordancewith the rearward and forward movement of said platen.

'8. In a stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen mountedfor rotation, means for limiting the forward and rear: ward movement ofsaid platen, a ribbon eX- tending around said platen for inking the backof stencil material, a pair of gages on said platen, one at each side'ofsaid ribbon for engaging the lower edge of a stencilcard and positioningsaid card for the reception, after said platen has reached its extremerearward position, of the first line of typing, and a front and a rearguide-plate on each side of said ribbon for guiding said stencil-carddown and up in accordance with the rearward and forward movement of saidplaten, said rear guide-plates having their lower ends spaced above thetyping line to permit engagement of said stencil-card with said platenat the typing line.

9. In a stencil-cutting machine, a platenv having a limited range ofmovement, means co-operatmg with said platen to cause a stencil-cardengaged with said platen to be advanced as said platen is rotated, aribbon extending about said platen in the writing zone, a chute forguiding said stencil-card in front of said platen, and gages carried bysaid platen at the sides of said ribbon,

co-operating with said chute and movable into position to engage thelower edge of the stencil-card outside the writing zone, when saidplaten is at the advance limit of its movement, and correctly positionsaid stencil card relatively to said platen to receive the first writtenline after the platen has been moved to the limit of its retractedmovement.

10L In a' stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen mountedfor rotative movement, a pair of revoluble spools, a ribbon for inkingthe back of stencil material extending about said platen from one ofsaid spools to the other and movable on the rotation of said spools,means includinga slide for line-spacing said platen and a stencil-cardengaged therewith, and additional means operable directly by said slidefor advancing one of said spools and feeding said ribbon.

11. In a stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen mountedfor rotative movement, a pair of revoluble spools, a ribbon for inkingthe back of stencil material, extending around said platen from one ofsaid spools to the other, behind a stencilcard, and feedable on therotation of said spools, means including a slide for linespacing theplaten, a shaft having a gear connection with one of said spools foradvancing it, a lever mounted free on said shaft, a link connecting saidlever and said slide for rocking said lever on the move ment of saidslide, and pawl-and-ratchet mechanism actuable by said lever forimparting limited rotative movement to said shaft on the moving of saidslide to linespace said platen.

12. In a stencil-cutting machine, the combination of a platen mountedfor rotative movement, a revoluble spool having a gear directlyassociated therewith for rotating said spool, a second and similar spooland gear, a ribbon for inking the back of stencil material, extendingabout said platen from one of said spools to the other and feedable onthe rotation of said spools, means including a slide for line-spacingsaid platen, a shaft mounted for rotary and limited lateral movement andhaving a gear thereon for meshing at one limit of lateral movement withthe first-mentioned gear and at the other limit of lateral movement withthe other gear, and means actuable on the movement of said slide in theline-spacing operation to impart limited rotation to said shaft, to thegear thereon, the gear meshing therewith and the associated spool forfeeding said ribbon;

ALVIN E. ZUGELTER,

